This invention relates generally to a device for training a newly budded tree to grow straight. It is common practice for a nursery or gardener to graft a bud onto a tree or root stock. For example, the gardener or nursery may desire to create a tree with both lemons and limes or may desire to use a particular good root stock for a particular type of tree. Generally, a bud from a particular seed type (e.g., olives, apricots, plums, etc.) may be budded onto another root stock of the same type while a bud from a citrus tree (e.g., lemon, line, orange, etc.) may be budded onto another citrus tree. Nurseries often put a bud onto a good root stock to produce a good tree.
To bud a tree, the bud is inserted into the tree or root stock in the fall as a "T" bud or a chip bud. The location where the bud is inserted into the tree or root stock is then bound together to facilitate the bonding of the bud with the tree. During the fall, the bud bonds with the tree, but does not grow. In the spring, the root stock above the bud is cut back so that the growing energy of the root stock is focused on the bud. Assuming that the bud bonded properly to the root stock, the bud may then begin to grow and produce a shoot. The nursery may also perform a spring budding in which the bud is inserted into the root stock during the spring and then the bud shoot grows. The problem with these budding processes is that the shoot from the bud will typically begin to grow straight out from the root stock parallel to the ground and perpendicular to the root stock. After some period of time, the bud shoot will bend and begin to grow towards the sun. However, if there is no supervision of the bud's growth, the tree resulting from the budding process will have a permanent crook in it. The crook does not substantially affect the strength or fruit producing ability of the tree, but consumers are less likely to purchase a tree which has a crook in it. In addition, the competition in the nursery industry is making it harder to sell a tree that is less than perfect since there is usually a perfect tree available from another nursery at the same price.
Typically, people who are budding a root stock may perform green training to ensure that the bud's shoot grows straight up. Green training involves tying the new green shoot up to a training rod several times while the shoot is small. The problem with green training is that it is a costly labor intensive process which increases the cost to the consumer of the tree or decreases the nursery's profit margin for the tree. Another technique is to place a metal deflector near the bud as it grows so that the deflector forces the bud's shoot to grow vertically. After the metal defector has been placed near the bud, a work crew must then readjust the position of the metal deflector a week after the initial placement to ensure it has been appropriately positioned. The metal deflector may then be retrieved once the bud is growing straight. The problem with the metal deflector is that the metal deflector is relatively expensive and must be retrieved so that it can be reused. Another more labor intensive technique to ensure the straight growth of the bud shoot is to manually place two wraps of masking tape around the bud.
It is desirable to provide a device which reduces the labor costs of the budding process, is inexpensive and ensures that a bud's shoot grows straight. It is also desirable to provide a device which may be used to 1) bind the bud to the root stock during the fall when the bud bonds to the root stock; and 2) ensure that the bud's shoot grows straight during the spring. None of the conventional techniques and devices achieve these goals. Thus, it is desirable to provide a bud clip which overcomes the limitations and problems with the conventional techniques and devices and it is to this end that the present invention is directed.